1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to providing data to presentation layers from a data storage layer. In particular, this disclosure relates to a data link layer that efficiently handles dataflow between a data storage layer and potentially many data presentation layers.
2. Related Art
Data analysis systems continue to evolve in terms of their capability and complexity. For example, U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2009/0307054, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a consumer and shopper analysis system that collects, normalizes, processes, and presents complex data and data analysis results as part of a sophisticated analysis system for analyzing customer behavior. The analysis system adeptly manages significant information flow from both internal and external sources that drives the analyses. In doing so, the analysis system manages data obtained from multiple different systems, integrates the data to provide a single data source of high integrity, and delivers precise information in a timely and accessible manner to business executives at all levels of the enterprise. The analysis system executes sophisticated analyses of the data to provide valuable insights into company performance to allow the company executives to make effective decisions.
In the analysis system described in the patent application noted above, a presentation layer displays the analyses results. The data that drives the analyses results resides in a data storage layer. Because of the immense amount of data that may reside in the data storage layer, and because many instances of the presentation layer may be making simultaneous access demands to the data storage layer for significant amounts of data, a need exists to efficiently transport, manage, and provide the data between the data storage layer and the presentation layer and to handle the simultaneous access demands. Significant technical challenges reside in providing the required data from the data storage layer to the presentation layer in a time, processing, and storage efficient manner.